Assorting-machine.



H. HASTINGS. ASSORTING MACHINE. APPLICATION Umb Anm, 19124 Patented Deo. 30, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

@MM/ff @19% H. HASTINGS.

' ASSORTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 8, 1912.

1,082,632, Patented Dec. 80, 1913. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2. n

3 n vanto@ H. HASTINGS.

ASSORTING MACHINE.

I APPLICATION FILED APR. 8. 1912, I 1,082,632.

Patented Dec. v30, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

STATES PATENT oEEioE.

. HERBERT H'A'sTI'NGs, or ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, AssrGNoR'To GERMAN AMERICAN BUTTON COMPANY, OE ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A 'CORPORATION OF NEW YORK."

:AssoRTrNG-MACHIN'E.

T o all whom t mag/concer-.

Be it 4known that I,

State .of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Assorting-4 Machines; and I do hereby declare'the f ollowing to be a lill,`clear, and exact 'description of the same, reference beinghad to the' accompanying drawings, forming a part 0f this specification, and' to the reference-numerals marked thereon. Y

M present invention relates to machines emp oyed for asso'rting or grading articles and distributing. .them' according to their size, and ithas for its object to provide an 'apparatus of this character comprising generally a hopper into whichthe articles are placed, therein, gripping with for Vthe purpose of enga-ging articles and holding them while being transported and means for actuating said gripping de# vices, which aremoved to release vthe articles held by -them at diiferent points along the path through which the articles are. carried, to the end that objects of one "size may be deposited. atone place and those of.

another size may be dropped at another. place.

sists in certain improvementsand combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at .the 'end of the 85 specification.4 s In the drawings:`Figure 1 is -a side elevation of a machine constructed in accordance with my invention illustratinr one embodiment thereof; Fig. 2 is a top plan view; 4 0 Fig.'3 is an enlarged plan view illustrating the releasing `operation of the grippers; Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view,v taken on the line 4"-45 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5- isa 'similar viewtaken onthe line,5"-5" of Fig. 3; Fig. 6. is a detail view illustrating the operationvof the wipers, taken on the line 6"-6"V of Fig.` 2'; Fig. 7 is detail view of the-brush, parts of this mechanism being shown in section, taken on the line 7"- 4" of Fig. 2; F ig. 8 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 8*-8* of Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is a detail view illustrating the sprin' chutes, showing t e parts as they appear Application led Apri18,i1912. Serial No. 689,256.

a continnously moving member' devices coperating there-- To these and other ends the invention congates, of the receiving i Specification-ot Letters Patent.4 Dec, 30, 1913.

alon Fi0ng;3. i'milarreference numeralsthroughout the several guresindicate the same parts. l In illustratin the Apresent embodiment of Imy invention I ave shown an assorting ma chine comprising a semicylindrical hopper wall A1, the bottom 2 of which comprises the revoluble. disk, journaled upon a` central shaft 3 carried in a bearing on 'the underlying frame 4 of the machine and provided with a wo'rm gear wheel driven by a worm .tinuously by any. suitable source of power. The bottom of tli'ehop'peris inclined and consists'of a circular late or disk 2', the edge ofwhichfis chamfrdred as indicated by 7, and. provided with-notches 8, which are preferably- .spaced equidistantly, having curved bottoms and parallel yside walls, as shown, which latter are at a slight angle tothe radii of the .disk so that, with reference tothe direction of rotation of the disk, the outer portions or mouths of the notches are in advance of their bottom edges.

Surrounding the disk 2, and. spaced therefrom, is an annular ring 9, which is attached tothe disk by a plurality of arms 10. A -convenient way to construct these parts is to cast thejdisk 2 and the ring 9vas an integral structure, and' to provide these parts respectively with flanges or rims 11 and 12, which are connected' at various points by the ribs 10. The ring 9 is preferably arranged below the plane of the disk 2 and the notches 8 on the eriphery of the latter are formed ina detachable ring, or ring sections413, 'thusmore conveniently providing for their interchangeability'.

pairs of bosses 14 and- 15 in which in alinement with each of the notches 8, are guided instance'. each of the latter comprises a presser plate or head'16 having a slightly curved outer face, carried at the extremity a direction toward the bottom of its cor'- respo-nding .notch 8 b and lyingfin an elongated slot provided in the walls of the tube. The gripping memasecnonai-iineindicaa by six-9x in= of a tube 17 which is'impelled forwardly in,

onthe driving shaft 6 which is rotated con- Extending upwardly from the ring 49 are '95 thearticle gripping devices. In. the present ioov a spring 18.- The -movement aof the tue is limited by a,

pin or screw 19 arranged in the boss 15 bers are moved outwardly against the action ofthe springs 18 by a plurality of cam surfaces A, B andfC, which coperatev with the rollers 20 .carried on the outer ends ofthe the horizontal diameter of the disk, so that any articles placed in the hopper 1,. which are of suitable size, may be received in 4the notches 8 and by them carried'al'ong in the direction ofrotation of thedisk. The interveningspace between the ends 27a' and 27b of the flange 27 is for the most part occupied bya plurality of discharge chutes A B', C', etc., arranged with their upper ends a curved row beneath the notches inthe upper edge of the disk, and in such a position relatively to the'cam surfaces A, B and C that they may respectively-receive the articles held in said notches by the gripping devices when the latter are actuated by said cams suiciently to release the articles when they are in alinement above one another of said chutes.

In explaining the operation of the machine, it should be remarked that the cams A, B and C, etc., are cut on the face of a ring 28, which is supported on the part 25 of the frame. The major portion of this cam ring comprises the surface 29 which retracts each of the gripping devices to the limit of its outward movement, holding it in this position during its rotation beneath the hopper until it arrives at the point where the articles received in the recesses 8, during their rotation underneath the mass of the articles in the hopper, are about to pass olf the end 27b of the supporting flange 27. Here the surface 29 is cut away, as indicated at 30, to meet the cam surface A2. The size of the articles contained in the recesses determines the inward movement of each presser head 16. The -latter compressing the' article against the bottom of the recess, will hold it securely 'and permit it to be transported until the article reaches one or another of the discharge chutes. If the article is small, then the roller 20 will engage "'.ie cam surface A, when it will be deposited into the '-.chute A; on the other hand .if the article is of larger size, the gripper will not be tripped until one of the succeeding cam -surfaces, such as C, engages therewith and permits the article to drop into the chute C. -Each of the cam surfaces, it'will be noticed is concentric to'the center of movement o the gripping devices, but each ofsaid surfaces is .arran ed at a slightly increased dis- '70 tancev from said ycenter,.and' as there are sev- A eral of these surfaces and an equal number of discharge chutes, each of which leads'to aA separate receptacle, a ve`ry accurate grading Y of the acticles to be handled may be obtained. A v

In Fig. 9 the upper ends of several of the discharge chutesare illustrated, and the division walls between; these are shown as provided at their upper ends, with spring gates 8'0 31 which will yield to prevent-breakage of the parts and accommodatean article which may in some wayoccasionally become caught' between them and one of the arms A10.

The articles, it will be understood, are de- 35i posited en masse in the hopper 1,l and-in the i handling'` and assorting of somekinds of ar ticles, such as the vegetable.ivory nuts used in the manufacture of buttons, it is desirable to .assort them according-to length; there, 90

fore, when lthe machine is employed-for such a purpose, I preferably employ inconjunction with the -notched disk a rotary brushV anda wiper, which will serve to position the n-uts lengthwise in the notches 8 95 in the disk. The rotary brush may comprise a head 32 having flexible blades 33 the edges' of which may-be curved as shown in Fig. 4. The head 32 is carried upon the shaft 34 ro-' vided with the pulley 35 rotated by the elt 36 driven from the shaft 6. This'l shaft isl preferably carried in the frame piece 37 pivoted at 38 and'movable toward and from the disk by the adjustment of, a thumbnut 39 on a bolt 40. The wiperemployed in con- 105 nection with the 'brush is arranged. in rear of the latter as indicated by 41., Figs. 2 and1 6.v -It is supported on a pivot p42 on an overhanging arm 43secured to the ring 26 and is operated in one direction by a sprmg 44, so as to normally stand -in a osit1on above the path of the recesses 8, so t at any of the nuts which are not turned or rotated intoan endwise position in their res ective'recesses will be so adjusted upon rther 'en- 115 gagement with .the wiper, as shown in Fig. 6. The coperative. action of the brush and wiper is such that any nuts which do not adjust themselves into proper position in the recesses will be rolled over and' turned 120 around before leaving the support 27 so as to lie lengthwise in the slots. This'adjustment of the articles occurs near the end 27 b of the support just in advance of the point where the gripping devices are allowed to 125 close against the articles.

In carrying out my invention, it. will be .observed that the articles are held by engaging their opposite"j ends between relatively stationary and movable. surfaces 13ov zoY ' gage articles placed -which travel continuously, the former being the bottom of the recesses orpockets 8 and the latter the presser heads 16. The fingers or projections between the recesses do not assist in supporting the articles after they have been gripped, but merely aid in arranging elongated articles, such as vegetable ivory nuts, in lengthwise position so that the grippers may act as gages to meas-v ure the length or greatest dimensions of each article. These iingers also act as a means for advancing the articles along the support and positioning them with their longitudinal axes in 'a inement with the grippers or gages.

I claim as my invention A l. In an asserting machine, a receptacle for the articles to be assorted, means for arranging said articles in a predetermined position relatively to their lengths, means for independently gaging and holding the articles lengthwise and while held transporting them and means for releasing said articles at different points inl their path of movement to separate them into classes with respect to their length.

2. In an assort-ing machine, the combina.

[tion with a receptacle for articles and a movable conveyer comprising a plurality of articles engaging devices each adapted to engage and transporta single article and comprising a movable member, of means arranged in the path of movement of said articles carried thereby.

3. In an assorting machine, the combination with an article container and a movable conveyer adapted to receive articles therefrom, comprising an abutment and a clamping member movable relatively thereto, .the-

position of which is determined by the size of an article engaged between it and the abutment, of means adapted to coperate with said member to operate it to releasev the article at one point or another in its travel depending upon the distance the movable member is separated from its abutment.

4. In an assorting machine, the combination with an article container and a movable conveyer comprising a relatively stationary surface and a plurality of spaced movable clamping members, said conveyer being adapted to receive articles from the container disposed endwise between said .surface and each of its clamping members, of means for tripping the several v members independently of each other and at' different points in their movement to re'- lease the articles held by them at various points in their travel according to their lengths.v

5. vIn an assorting machine, the combina- .tion with a movable conveyer having recesses and gripping devices arranged to in the recesses, of means `points in the travel movable for holding said gripping devices in inoperative position, releasing them and subse-` quently retracting them atsuccessive oints in the movement of the conveyer, t e retracting movement of the termined by the positionof the gripping devices by reason of the size of the article engaged thereby. Y

In an asserting machine, the combination with a. support and a conveyer movable thereover having recesses, of movableY gri ping devices adapted to'engage articles in each of the recesses and to carry them when the conveyer moves beyond the support and means for successively tripping the gripping devices to release the artlcles, said means operating to cause articles ,of different sizes to be deposited at dierent points inthe travel of the conveyer.

7. Inv an assorting machine, the combination with a hopper and a conveyer having a plurality of recesses moving continuously therethrough, of a movable gripping device articles lreceived therein, means for holding the gripping devices retracted during a por` tion of the movement of the conveyer, said means being adapted to release the to engage varticles deposited in their respective recesses and also subsequently retract ,said gripping'devices to cause articles of various sizes to be, released at different ofthe conveyer. 4

In an asserting machine, the combination witha support, a movable member travcling continuously therec've'r. and having recesses and a gripping device arranged iu alinement with each of said recesses and adapted to clamp articles placed therein and to carry them when the recesses move beyond the support, of a cam track for holding for each of said recesses adapted to engage grippers f ice the gripping devices retracted, adapted to release the, latter to engage the articles and v also provided with successive -step portions forretracting the gripping devices at different po-ints vin the .movement of the conveyer to effect the release' of the articles car-v ried thereby at' different points in the travel ofthe conveyer according to the size of said articles.

9. In an asserting machine, the combination with a hopper having a bottom provided with an opening therein, a rotary conveyingmember having peripheral recesses adapted to receive articles placed in the hopgripping devices adapted to engage said articles and transport' them over the articles according to their size., en-` In an fassorting machine, the`combina' iaty hopper, and I for retracting the gripping gripping device being adapted to engage arfor receiving articles of different sizes, un-' derlyin'g said recesses at the upper edge of` p.

along said. support,

ticles received in the notches while carried a circular cam track retracting said grippers during a portionof their movement, provided with a depression permitting the grippers to vmove relatively toward their respective notches and also hav- Y ing a series of cam steps adapted to retract `said grippers successively during another ortion of their movement.

'12.- In an vasserting machine, the combination with a hopper, a rotatable inclined disk located in the bottom of the hopper having recesses in its periphery,'a support underlying said recesses at the lower portion of the disk and a plurality of discharge chutes,

the disk, of a gripping device movable lon gitudinally of,each of said recesses and adapted to engage an article therein, means for holding said gripping devices retracted and releasing-them while the recesses 4'are traversing a portion of the support, and

. means located relatively to each of said chutes adapted to engage said gripping devices to trip them when the article held thereby is over charge chutes and is of the size to be received by said chute.

a ring surround- Alying tracting the gripping Harige.

one or another of the disincassa vided `with recesses in its periphery, a ring 4 surrounding the disk and supported thereon and gripping devices carried on the ring and cooperating with the several recesses, of a framework inclosing the ring having a segmental4 portion forming a support under.- the recesses at the lower side of the disk, a plurality of discharge chutes arranged beneath the recesses in the upper side-'of the disk, a circular cam track redevices while the recesses are traversing a portion of said support and permitting them to engage articles therein and transport them to a position above one or another of said chute, said ring being also provided with a plurality of stepped shoulders for retracting said grip ping devices. l

14. In an assorting machine, the combination with a frame, a circular member journaled thereon having an unsupported'edge provided with recesses7 a ring moving with the circular member and spaced from the edge thereof and grippers carried on the ring, of a cover plate on the frame inclosing said ring having a central aperture exposing the circular member', an arcuate liange carried on the cover and underlying a portion of-said unsupported edge tracting the grippers successively at different points during their movement across the space intervening between the ends of the HERBERT misiinos.

Witnesses:

F. WILLIAM RICH, HENRY W. HALL. 

